Excerpt from greenbiz.com
Corporations have been a major driving force in the scaling of renewable energy over the last decade. Indeed, those on the forefront made ambitious commitments before they knew how they would get there.
That moxie paid off. Voluntary procurements have given rise to new contract models, driven down the price of technologies and instilled confidence in investors, inspiring more capital to flow to the space. Thanks to these efforts, hundreds of companies, communities and institutions hopped on the 100 percent clean energy bandwagon, committing to procure enough renewable energy to offset their annual electricity consumption.
Now, leading organizations are setting their sights on the next, seemingly impossible frontier: figuring out how to match energy use with clean energy supply in real time. That means ensuring clean energy is available where and when it’s needed, all day, every day.
Cracking this nut is key for the power sector to reach deep decarbonization and to have a chance at meeting global climate goals. While large-scale renewable-energy purchases help decarbonize the grid overall, customers remain dependent on carbon-emitting energy sources when clean resources aren’t available. Yet the conditions are right for meaningful change.